Friday, May 28, 2010

Wow...that was a short week! Here are a few finds from all over the web for you to peruse this weekend!

Liz Tamanaha from Paislee Press was a guest blogger this week over at Ella Publishing. She offered great advice for buidling your albums two pages at a time as well as some free digital templates in her signature clean style.

Robots seemed to pop up everywhere this week...DT members Jamie and Amber were making them and so was I. They are so cute!

You already know I love Stacy Julian and her new video series on sorting, organizing and scrapping by color. But this video (which features WHITE) also talks lots about purging our supplies. Yeah...that's something I'm not so good at! (Hmmm...maybe I should do a little purging on the weekend and have a GIVEAWAY next week? Yes? Well, OK!)

Thursday, May 27, 2010

This past long weekend marked the beginning of the growing season here in Calgary as it supposedly is the last day we could possibly have frost. (BUT, today it's calling for rain mixed with snow and a high of only 6 degree, so you never know!) We are classified as Zone 3, so many plants just won't grow here. I am always a little envious when I see posts from friends in more temperate climates who have blooming flowers and lush foliage all year long (or at least a good few months more than us!) It's no wonder then that I am a sucker for floral papers as they tend to make me think of those warmer growing months any time of the year. With this in mind, here is our newest Page Pak, simply titled "Grow".

As with our other Page Paks, there is enough product to complete 2 12 x 12 pages all for only $5.00! Create two layouts of your choice, or use the sample layout shown below (and included on the Pak Insert) as your guide.

Here's the instructions for this easy LO:

1) Cut your floral and butterfly papers in half so you will have two 6 x 12 pieces of each. Cut one 6 x 12 of each paper in half to create two 6 x 6 squares. Cut one 2 x 12 strip from the floral paper.

2) Mount the 6 x 12 butterfly paper across the bottom of one piece of cardstock. Mount the 2 x 12 floral strip above it. Mount one 6 x 6 butterfly paper square on the lower right hand corner of the second piece of cardstock. Mount a floral 6 x 6 square on the upper left hand corner of the same piece of cardstock. Set aside the rest of your patterned paper for decorative elements.

3) Cut two of the yellow 4.5 x 6.5 photo mattes down to measure 4.5 x 4.5 each. Mount these in the empty squares on the second piece of cardstock. Mount the remaining two full size photo mattes so they overlap the butterfly and floral papers on the first piece of cardstock.

4) Mount two 3.5 x 5.5 or 4 x 6 vertical photos on the photo mattes on the first page of the layout. Trim four photos into 4 x 4 squares and mount as shown on the second piece of cardstock.

5) Get out your scissors and hand trim a few flowers and butterflies from your leftover pieces of patterned paper. Position as shown or wherever you like! I cut a butterfly and flowers that were already half off the edge of my leftover patterned paper and placed them on the edges of my page and used a small flower to replace the O in GROW. Cut out some leaves or smaller elements too if you like.

6) I added the gems to the center of some of the flowers and to my main butterfly accent.

7) For journaling, you could use one of the four 4 x 4 spaces or simply write captions under each of the photos.

8) To punch up and finish off my layout I created a faux stitching effect by using an opaque white pen (not included) to make small dash marks all the way around the individual elements. I also swiped the edges of the photo mattes and letters with a white ink pad (not included) to create a softer look to blend in with the papers.

After creating your two page layout, you will still have enough leftovers to use on other projects such as a cute card...

Simply cut additional butterflies and flowers and add them to a card base made from white or colored cardstock from your stash. Stamp or write a greeting, maybe add a little glitter and you are done!

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

I'm back after a great long weekend! The weather was cool but pleasant so we got out to practice Grayson's bike riding and got some yard work done. Shane and I took turns sleeping in, we visited with friends and family, and I managed to get lots of crafting time in.

* I made a birthday card for a special boy's party next weekend. It was a great chance to play with my Copics (of course!) and one of my new stamp sets!. I also used last week's challenge sketch (#114) at Taylored Expressions. I liked it so much, I decided to link up to the challenge for the very first time!

Friday, May 21, 2010

It's the Victoria Day long weekend here in Canada and I am so excited for a break from the everyday routine and a chance to get a bunch of stuff done! Here are a few things I came across this week for you to check out over the weekend:

1) Looking around at Two Peas this week I came across this super-cute Coffee Cup Mini-Album by Wilna Furstenburg.

You can download the templates/instructions for free and whip it up this weekend!

...how sweet is that for card backgrounds?! Also check out her tutorial video on how ink up a larger stamp using a brayer.

3) Have you checked out Paperclipping Rountable Shows? I love them! Headed up by Noell Hyman and Nancy Nally, they invite all sorts of guest and celebrity scrappers to join them in their weekly shows. Lots of great ideas and tips here, for sure! I subscribe to the show via iTunes and then take my iPhone with me when I go for a walk in the evening and listen to them. This week Stacy Julian and Renee Pearson talk about chronological scrapbooking or, more specifically, why they don't do it!

4) OK...this last site isn't a scrapbooking site, but it's one of my favorites. Knock Off Wood offers free plans for building your own furniture - usually inspired by expensive furniture at places like Pottery Barn. I love browsing the galleries and one day I will actually try to make one of her pieces - maybe something for the new house. Have fun browsing and thinking of all the ways you could redecorate your home!

So, what are you up to this weekend? I have been shopping a little too much lately - both online and in person - so I have lots of new things to play with. Last week I saw a great deal on Sassafrass' blog and snapped it up. It arrived yesterday:

3 full pads of Sass paper and a whole package of coordinating product. Yum!

I grabbed a couple - one to replace the Project 365 Binder (the binder it came with never fit in my album shelf properly) and one for Week in the Life projects, which will be ongoing.

And, I bought a bunch of cute new stamps at Michaels to use with my Copics. Oh, and I found a source for Neenah Classic Crest paper here in town. It's a wholesaler, but they have a cash & carry section for the public. Needless to say I cleaned out what they had in stock! Hopefully I'll have lots of projects to share with you after the long weekend.

Other than playing with my new goodies, we will be continuing to pack up for our move and doing a bit of yardwork. I have plans for a date with hubby tonight, a date with a girlfriend tomorrow night and a date with the whole family (including a delish little four week old baby girl!) on Sunday. It promises to be a great weekend.

Hope your weekend is fab as well...have a good one...see you on Tuesday!

Thursday, May 20, 2010

Since completing my certification I have been playing with my Copics every spare moment I have! I love the vibrant colors, the effortless blending and the smooth finished product. I have been experimenting with stamps I already own and have purchased a few new ones that caught my eye!

During my certification I sat next to the owner of Paper Jewels who was kind enough to share some stamped images of stamps she carries at her online store. The Bildmalarna stamps are from Sweden and feature little boy and girl characters called "Mimo" and "Mimosa". Oh my gosh they were cute! I didn't have a chance to work with them during the session, but I definitely have been playing around with them over the past few weeks!

Here are a couple of the stamped images made into cards:

Mimo Soccer

Copics: G21, G24, B21, B24, Y11, Y21, E00, E11, E15, E33, N0

DCWV Patterened Paper

Paper Co. Cardstock

Recollections Stamps

Creative Memories Star Punch

Mimosa Teddy Bear

Copics: V01, V12, V15, E00, E11, E33, E47, R20, Y21

K& COmpany Patterned Paper

Paper Co. Cardstock

Recollections Trim & Brad

Die-cut Flower Unknown

So sweet!

I think I will be ordering a few "Mimo's" for future cards and scrapbook embellishments - when colored up with blonde hair they remind me of my boys!

Make sure to check out their gallery for more cute ideas. Thanks Paper Jewels!

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Here are some photos of my scrap room. The room is 12' by 28'. There are windows front and back and I have two standing floor lamps and a light over my table. I use lots of carts to organize my items; I have 18 black carts and 4 white ones with metal drawers in this room. I scrap by color and so that is how I have organized most of my things. I do have paper stored by company if I have a lot, and some by themes.

Carts which store colors (ribbon, rhinestones, buttons, etc.). Dress form which holds jewelry I've made and some I've gotten in trades.

My computer and wall calendar from Pottery Barn. I love that calendar; it's a whiteboard and my entire scrapping life is on there!! I change it monthly and write in all my design team work so I can see it at a glance.

I got 4 pieces of this white furniture with the colorful baskets this year. I love the bright colors!! This piece stores blank cards, with misc. letter stickers and rub-ons in the boxes on top.

My paint, ink and stamping area. I like to keep my things in "zones" or areas so I can find things quickly. The inks are sorted by color, each to their own drawer. The stamps are sorted alphabetically, by theme.

The sewing area. The white furniture holds material. The wall hanging is a tribute to my mother, who loved to sew.

View of 1/2 the room. I love my work table (from Ikea). In fact, I have another one in my die cutting room!!

WOW! A super organized and efficient room with so many lovely and special touches. And she has another room just for die-cutting? Be still my heart! Thanks for sharing your space Joan!

Monday, May 17, 2010

I love adding buttons to my scrapbook pages and cards, and I love sourcing out new, cute buttons to add to our Page Paks. But recently I have been inspired by sweet HANDMADE buttons like these from TessaAnn

So, I decided that I wanted to try my hand at making some too. Off I went to buy some Fimo from Michael's in my fave colors. Needless to say the clay has been sitting on my cabinet for while, waiting for my good intentions to change into action! Well, on Saturday I saw a post by our own DT member Jamie that spurred me into action! (Edited...I see from this morning's blog posts that Jamie spent some more time over the weekend making more buttons...check them out here!)

I sat down Saturday afternoon to make these...

A far cry from the gorgeous inspiration buttons, but not bad for a first attempt! And, it was easier than I thought. First, I mixed some blue and white clay together to get a softer, marbled blue. Then I rolled it out, cookie dough style and used a small round band (that fell off some toy, I think) to act as a cutter. I pressed a rubber flower stamp in each button to give it a little texture and then used a toothpick to make the holes. I baked them on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper at 250 degrees for about 30'35 minutes. I am debating whether or not to glaze them now...I do like the matte finish but I am wondering if they will wear well without a protective coating. I will DEFINITELY be making some more of these using up that rainbow of Fimo I bought months ago! (And I think I will be looking for some mini-cookie cutters and a cheap pasta machine to make the process even easier!)

Do you have any craft projects you've been meaning to get to? What's stopping you? Go forth and craft!

Friday, May 14, 2010

If you have a little time this weekend check out these great links from around the web!

1) You probably know by now how much I admire Stacy Julian...as a matter of fact I was just mentioning her great and liberating philosophy in my last post about my own scrap space. I was thilled to see Stacy come out with a video about her appraoch to sorting, storing and using her scrapbooking products. In the first of hopefully many videos, she talks about scrapping with the color green!

3) Remember back in April I took part in Ali Edwards Week in the Life project? Yeah, well, I am not QUITE finished my pages from that week, but lots of her readers ARE finished and they shared their work. See reader submissions Part 1 and Part 2

4) Everytime I go into Wal-mart I walk through the photo-album aisle...just in case there is something special ro different. I love to stock up on the little $1.00 plastic photo albums for quick mini-projects and I recently came across a tutorial for making a cute felt cover for these little albums. So sweet! Check it out here on Chez Beeper Bebe! Why not make one this weekend ( after you organize your scrap products by color, make bookplates and enjoy sneek-peaks in to other's lives of course!)

Thursday, May 13, 2010

Over the last couple of weeks we've been sharing DT members scrap spaces, so I thought I would get in on the act and share my own space with you!

My space take up half of our very large basement rec room. It's great because I have lots of space, it's quite cozy for a basement and I can be scrapping while hubby and the kids watch TV or play games. It's only downfall (as in most basements) is light. I do have one window, but it faces North, so is not the brightest. The overhead lights are OK, but not ideal, so I keep an Ott light handy for when I really need it. Having said that, I am so thankful I have a dedicated space and I really enjoy it.

The table is a board room table from a company hubby used to do I.T. work for. It measures 3" x 6" so I can really spread out. Sometimes that's NOT a great attribute as I tend to pile instead of file! The cabinets and bookcase behind my table are from the Home Depot's storage department. I think they are sold as kitchen pantry cabinets, but they really hold lots of stuff. I had hubby anchor them into the wal so they are very sturdy. I like having closed storage, especially since this room is used by the whole family as well as guests when they are over watching movies or playing Wii on the big screen. It's nice not to have everything out in the open.

In the first cabinet I keep photos and a lot of supplies that don't get used that often - extra albums, papers and supplies for future SMS kits, and photos that still need to be sorted as well as those in cold storage.

The shorter bookcase in the middle is for magazines, books and my Library of Memories Photo Storage Albums.

The second cabinet houses my regularly used tools and supplies, including all my embellishments! I sort most embellishments by color and keep them in clear plastic shoeboxes. Flat embellies like stickers are stored in an accordian file by category/theme. I also have a lot of my tools stored here in plastic baskets with handles...easy to pull out and place on my table when I need them. Solid cardstock that I use for my own projects is stored (in color families) upright in Cropper Hoppers and regular sized magazine holders.

To the side of my table are four organizer cubes I bought at Michaels (with coupons of course!). These are great to house things I need at my fingertips. In future I hope to add more cubes and add a work surface on top.

The other made-for-scrappers storage I purchased from Michael's is the Making Memories Tool Carousel which sits on top of my table. SO handy!!!! Under my scrap table I keep school of life file boxes (a great place to store kids memorabilia ready to be added into the school albums) and 2 12 x 12 sterilite drawer sets stacked on top of each other, which is where I store all my scraps by color. (Are you getting the idea that I think and work by color?!) Usually my scrap paper drawers are the first place I go to search for a little bit for a layout or card.

I floated my table with my back to the cabinets and facing the wall with the screen on it. It works well for me as I can sit and scrap, or get up and use both sides of the table for laying out different projects. On the other side of my table and against the wall I have an Expedit bookcase from IKEA laying on it's side. It is the perfect height to place my Cricut, Cuttlebug and large format printer (which I LOVE!)

Above the shelves I mounted a strip of magnetic bars which I use to display favorite or new layouts on. It's nice to see them for awhile before they get tucked into albums! The window is just above the display bar.

The cubes of the Expedit shelf house our family albums, and the boxes underneath do a great job of hiding my collection of papers. I also keep Cricut cartridges and Cuttlebug dies here so they are close at hand when I need to use them. It's another great example of using pieces that kind of integrate into the room but serve a valuable storage function.

I have adopted many strategies (for storage and general scrapbooking philosophy) from the uber-fabulous Stacy Julian. Her Library of Memories system has liberated me from the chronological guilt I was suffering from and ideas like school of life have been invaluable in terms of organizing and staying sane while I enjoy my hobby. If you aren't familiar with these, you can visit Stacy's website, Big Picture Scrapbooking or read her books - "The Big Picture" and "Photo Freedom" - both of which live in my bookcase!

Anyway, I think that concludes my little tour. I hope you enjoyed it and maybe got an idea or two! I know most of the ideas that work for me originally came from looking at other's spaces! If you have some ideas to share, please leav us a comment or link to your blog post or photos...we'd love to see what your scrap space is like!

Wednesday, May 12, 2010

DT member Michelle sent us a couple of new layouts she made that used our Artisan Bracket Journaling spots. They are so versatile that you can use them on just about any layout! In the past we have sold them in paks of 6, but we are almost ready to offer them to you as digital downloads instead! (We'll let you know when they are ready!)

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

My scrap space is the basement. The part of the basement that faces the street, as in "has-no-windows"! I wish I had large windows to let the light in. My work space is made up of two folding tables that I got at Costco. The bulk of my storage are JetMax cubes from Michael`s, 12x12 Sterlite drawers from Wal Mart and a drawer unit that holds 6 Iris containers, also from Costco. I also use containers collected from here and there in various happy colours: pink, green, purple, blue. I like my main items out and easily accessible on my work space. Drawers are also good; boxes and stacking things are not. This makes for very easy clean up.

My photos are stored in 4-up photo albums and in a Sterlite shoe drawer in Stacy Julian’s Library of Memories (LOM) style. This sit on the table behind my work table.

The Iris unit (aka plastic pizza boxes!) hold my themed stuff. There is one drawer for Christmas, one for Birthdays, etc. All the rest of my supplies are divided by colour (brads, ribbon, patterned paper, cardstock) or theme (letter stickers, rubons, journaling cards, bling). I almost always do handwritten journaling since it`s faster. If not though I can just go into the next room, where the office is and type something up. The office has two little basement windows.

I have a spinning chair so I can easily roll around and reach things. I like that it is small enough to spin around my u-shaped area and reach everything I need. Makes it easy to do a 30 minute layout. I also have a heat dish to keep me toasty warm.

There is no T.V. or music, just silence, me and my supplies. I also scrap alone as I don`t have any scrappy friends. No snacks either, I don`t want food spills or crumbs to get onto my creations. It`s also a great place to go when I want to snack, but shouldn't! I do keep some more supplies, like extra page protectors, idea books, blank cards other crafty things in the closet in the office.

We want to revamp our basement - drywall over the wallboard, get a heater, paint etc. When we do this I might move my stuff to the other end of the space. I would also bring out my girls` tables, which are currently in the office, so that we can create together. Another good idea would be a large plastic office mat so that I could easily sweep up my space and no long have confetti carpet!

Thanks for the great ideas Tracy...so many of us have challenging basement spaces and you have given us some great ideas for storage and organization. I love the variety of containers and decorative pieces you have. And seeing your MM wall unit makes me want to go buy one RIGHT NOW! So fun!

Sunday, May 09, 2010

Just dropping in with Mother's Day wishes for all the moms out there. I had a lovely day with 30 scrappers at our all-day crop yesterday, and today hubbie brought me some gorgeous flowers AND vacuumed the house for me - the best gift in my eyes! I am just waiting for the family to arrive for supper and am looking forward to a nice evening. I just thought I would share a couple of cards with you in celebration of today...

DT member Marcie whipped up this elegant card for Mother's Day using one of our Perpetual Calendars...very clever Marcie! And I love the colors!

And I shared our new Mother's Day Page Pak with you a couple of days ago, but here is a simple card created with some of the patterned paper and vellum sayings leftover from the layout.

Friday, May 07, 2010

I am so looking forward to this weekend. I am spending tomorrow with 30 lovely ladies at an All-Day crop, and of course Sunday is Mother's Day, so I will be spending it with all three of my boys!

I am doing a Make &Take at our crop tomorrow to introduce our ladies to Copic markers. I have been playing with mine non-stop since my certification and I am in love!

If you want to find out more about Copics, here are some really good informative/"get started" posts:

1) Suzanne Dean has an extensive list of Copic videos and tutorials on her site. Make sure to check out her latest projects featuring a summery stamp set and using Copics on fabric bibs and onesies. The possibilities are endless with Copics and I love all of Suzanne's Projects!

Thursday, May 06, 2010

We interrupt our series of Scrap Space tours to bring you a new Page Pak, just in time for Mother's Day! We've had a couple of months without any new Paks, so you'll be excited to know that besides this Pak for Mom, we have 3 other new Paks ready to be unveiled in the next couple of weeks! (Oh...and some new Project Kits too, but that's another story!!!)

After creating this layout, there were enough leftovers to create a matching card for mom. I just used some pink cardstock from my personal stash for the base and added one large pink brad (not inluded in Pak). I placed some of the leftover striped paper as a background and layerd one of the vellum sayings onto a scrap of the brown cardstock. Fast and cute! And I actually have enough to make one for mom and one for my MIL!

This Page Pak contains:

2 Patterned Papers (Scrapbook Sally)

2 Coordinating Solid Cardstock (Scrapbook Sally)

1 Sheet Vellum with Mother sayings (Scrapbook Sally)

1 Journaling Box (SMS)

6 Die-Cut Flowers (SMS)

2 Die-Cut Word Art Titles—”Mom” and “Mother” (SMS)

3 Buttons

3 Brads

Natural yarn for tying buttons

All for only $5.00! Quantities are limited so if you would like one, be sure to email me and I will let you know how much S&H will be and send you a PayPal invoice. Or, if you are in the Calgary area, drop in to our All-Day Crop at the Triwood Hall (2244 Chicoutimi Dr. N.W., Calgary) to pick one up (and have a look at all our new Paks!)

About Me

Hi! I'm a wife and mom of two busy boys. I'm am art teacher by day and a crafty homebody by night. I love being at home or at our little cabin in the woods, organizing, crafting, cooking or baking and trying to make the crazy job of being a mom a little more creative and fun. Join me for my adventures in family life!